I have been following a case in my hometown about little girl who drowned at te public pool while in the care of her daycare. It has rocked our small town and I have posted before about this, giving updates on how the little girl was doing but here is a rundown of the situatation, followed by my question.
Daycare took trip to local pool, which has life guards (mostly teen girls).
Dcg was spotted by lifeguards at bottom of pool, pulled out, given CPR, and careflighted to nearby hospital.
She passed away about one month later after not being able to be taken of life support.
Daycare provider has been charged with negligent homicide and operating without a license.
The local head of social services (or the person in charge of licensing and inspection) is being charged also for basically not doing he job. (it appears she looked the other way in this case or at the very least, did not follow up with this particular daycare.
The city attorney is also filing a wrongful death suit against the city, as lifeguards were present and it is a public pool. (they specifically said the city is filing suit, not the family of the girl.)
Now, this is all hear say, but according to others, the dcp had 17 kids in her care and if she wa snot licensed, she would nly be able to have 5. Even with a license, she would only be able to have 7 + 2 SA. I heard she had an assistant with her at the pool and the kids were in two groups. I know nothing else about her, other than she is very well known in the community. Her family owns the local coffee shop as well.
So, here is my question. A little girl is dead and it looks like all in invovled in her daycare will be prosecuted. Do you think the parent holds any responsibility for putting her child in a daycare that is unlicensed and obviously over ratio? Would that be child endangerment? The reason I am curious is because I have had discussions with people and there have been mixed emotions. They all blame the daycare, but then also turn around and say that they cannot believe someone would knowingly enroll their kid in a daycare that had so many kids and then let them go to the pool no less. From what I have heard, mom knew the daycare situation, yet still sent her daughter. Again, all hear say, but if it is true, do you think the mom hold responsibility as well? (I say mom only, because I believe dad is out of the picture, although there may be a step dad involved.) Just curious what all of you think on this. Regardless, it is a sad case and my town is very upset about it. And if the suit against the city is won, it may be the end of our local pool, which is an amazing pool and I have been swimming in for almost 30 years
